


Saving You

by Kirkland_Bonnefoye78



Category: One Piece
Genre: The romance is hinted only, idk - Freeform, im focusing on Sabo and Ace and all their family issues, theres also a minor oc character, theyre not together yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-08-23 06:07:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20237989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirkland_Bonnefoye78/pseuds/Kirkland_Bonnefoye78
Summary: Haruta finds a noble on a ship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A bit fast paced, but things will even out later.

Haruta futilely tugs at the sea stone cuffs in his wrists with a scowl, wondering what the fuck happened for him to end up in this situation. He doesn't quite remember, just that there was an attack. A traitor? He doesn't know, but what he does know is that Pops is gonna come for him.

He always does.

Doesn't mean he's gonna take this lying down. He tugs at the cuffs harder. Thankfully, he's not a devil fruit user, but sea stone cuffs are thicker than normal cuffs, so a bit harder to break. Even with Haki.

"You shouldn't make such a ruckus," a voice drawls, and he looks up to his cell mate. Blue eyes, long blond hair, chiseled chin and aristocratic cheeks. Pointy nose, pink lips, a noble through and through. Despite this evidences though, the man sits opposite of him, eyes alit with tiredness sewn into people who already gave up.

He wears a tattered blue coat, practically slouching. Haruta scowls at him, too. The other chuckles dryly, shaking his head.

"There's a lock pick on the left side of my pocket. If you're determined, maybe you can use your feet to get it and free yourself," the blond shrugs, briefly glancing towards the other prisoners.

His eyes narrowed.

"What's the catch?" 

It's more of a demand than a question, and the man laughs. It has more humour than the situation probably warrants, but Haruta reckons people deal with shit differently. Ace is kinda like that, too.

"Burn the ship," he says simply, "and free the other slaves."

Haruta stares at the other. Those are things he'd already planned to do if freed, admittedly, but a noble? A disgraced noble sold to slavery, yes, but a noble nonetheless. They're supposed to be the paragon of evil, slavers and corrupt as fuck.

The man grins wide enough that Haruta can fool himself that its genuine.

He nods.

A few twists, a lot of struggles, and a few bending and he finally got himself free. He walked towards the man to free him too, but the other shakes his head.

"Burn the ship," the man says seriously, "and free the _other _slaves."

The Whitebeard commander freezes, eyes widening.

Other slaves. Not him. The man gestures towards the huddling children in the corner, smiling encouragingly. Haruta curses and goes to save the kids.

A crash was heard from the above, followed by someone calling his name. He finally unlocks the cuffs on the fishman, the last prisoner, and turns to the blond ex-noble. He opens the cuffs as the other watched bemusedly. 

"You think I'll leave you here while I burn the ship?" He snaps as the man looks at him, and the man smiles bitterly.

"I'd prefer that, yes."

"Yeah, no," he mutters, because he's a pirate and he does what he wants.

"Haruta!!!" 

Ace calls out, kicking down the door and making him look up. He grins upwards, eyes bright. He hurries towards the other.

"Ace!"

The man behind him chokes, and he looks back with a raise eyebrow. The noble blond was pale, eyes blown wide and lips parted. He was staring at his newest brother with fear, then turns to him. He then slumps into the wall, burying his face into his arms.

"Its gotten worse," he says as if something horrifying had happened, "I'm hallucinating entire situations now. Oh _God_."

The man's voice cracks, curling in on himself with a choked sob. He keeps mumbling, whispering things Haruta didn't catch. He's rocking back and forth now, and he steps forward.

"I—Sabo?"

Haruta freezes in his advancement to look at his brother. 

Grey eyes, wide and fearful, holding a tint of hesitance and wariness.

The logia steps forward.

Haruta tries to intercept, but the blond turns and snarls.

"Go away!" He hisses, "You're dead! I—Why can't you leave me alone, Ace?!? Haven't I suffered enough? Why can't you just leave me alone? Why can't you—"

Tears built up inside sky blue eyes, full of anguish and regrets. His lips quivers, hand curls into fists and trembling. 

Pleading.

Terrified.

Betrayed.

Ace bristles.

"I—Of course I'm not dead! You would've known that if you didn't left!"

The man flinches as if strucked. His tears fell as he hunches down and practically presses himself into a corner. He curses out, trying his face in his arms.

"Fuck you," his voice cracks at the end, "I tried. Again and again and again and again—I've got so many fucking scars to prove it. I was ten, you stupid hallucination, and then there was no point anymore because you and Luffy are dead, you little fucker, how many times do I have to tell you?!?"

"I—scars?"

The blond looks up to glare at Ace, opening his mouth. But before he can, the ship rocks around and Marco bursts into the cell.

Ace didn't seem to notice, to busy staring at the crying noble. Truthfully, Haruta is very confused. Is this a coma induced nightmare where Ace is a character in a drama? Because honestly this feels so surreal it can't be anything but that.

Seeing Marco's questioning look, he shrugs but motions him to be quiet. He also slowly—very, very slowly as to not be noticed—walks around Ace. All he needs is some food and he'll be set. It'll be like a play. When was the last time the Moby Dick housed that event again?

"Yes! And now I'm talking to ghosts of my past and people who I've never met cause I'm an idiot and yet I—I wish this is some sort of dream I'll never wake up from—" He cuts himself off, burying his face and his hands again.

"Forget I said that. Wait. This is just a very crazy hallucination. Of course you'll forget—you always do. And I still repeat what I've been saying for the past ten years again and again and again because I still miss you. Fuck."

The blond is mumbling now, while Ace stares at him with horrified eyes.

"When did I die?" Ace asks softly, and it puts a stop in the others mumbled rant. 

"In the Terminal Fire. Sometimes, I wish I did too," his eyes hardens, something in it turning cold with vindictive pleasure, "but it's okay now. You can rest in peace, Ace. I delivered our final revenge."

His eyes were dark, and he looks insane if Haruta is being honest. Drying tears in his cheeks and lips pulled into a wide, proud grin. Sky blue eyes turning into sea blue with malice. He looks feral.

"Revenge?" Said Ace in a quiet voice, and the man cackles as if its something that caused him great pleasure. 

"Yes. I burned the whole kingdom, from the castle to the walls. I destroyed all of it, with the help of all the other Grey Terminal survivors. Don't worry though, I'm not as heartless as them. I took out all the children and left them in the Terminal with the maids and the guards and the slaves. It's how I got caught after all," he shrugs then, and the menacing image he projected disperses.

"That's much crueler," Ace observes, and approval was the last thing Haruta thought he'll see in his eyes. This is Ace after all, who gave a whole town his food without complain. Ace, who loves children and is always one of the top 5 most favorite Whitebeard pirate in their protected islands. Ace, who is kind to everyone except enemies and sometimes not even then. Ace, who hates torture. Ace, who grants enemies a quick death instead of letting them burn into ashes with his powers.

"I'm scum, evil, cruel," the other whispers with amusement, "but so were they. It's time they learn some humility."

"You're okay with that?" Marco says, sounding more confused than accusatory, "I thought you dislike prolonging others pain?"

Ace snorts.

"I was born a scum," he said dryly, "I was raised as a scum. I'll die as a scum, too, cause a Scum of The Terminal is a Scum where ever he is. I lived and thrived in a place where its kill or be killed. No food is safe unless its in your stomach and humans are monster as much as beasts."

Haruta's mouth drops.

Marco huffs as another cannon fires and the ship rocks once more.

"We'll deal with your family drama later, Ace. The other would-be slaves are free and in the Moby. They're waiting for us now."

"What would you do—_carry me_?" 

It was obviously sarcastic, but Ace nods his head. He moves and suddenly he's carrying the other man in his arms. For his part, the man's face settles into a bewildered expression.

But they need to move now, so they did.

***  
When Marco lands with Haruta in his arms, Izou knows not to tease the other with it._ Yet_.

When Ace lands with a screaming unknown in his arms, he's suspicious. Marco isn't throwing a fit (or as much of a fit he allows himself) or green with jealousy, but he does look as if someone dropped some big news on him. Haruta looks confused too, which doesn't bode that well for the blond in Ace's arms. A confused Haruta is a Haruta searching for answers, and he won't stop at anything to get it.

"God, fuck, shit, Ace, this might be a dream but it also might not be and I really don't want to die so please warn me before I get a heart attack," he hisses, almost too fast to be understood by Izou if not for Thatch's habit to speak the same way.

Ace frowns, then nods slowly. 

"Right. I'm supposed to be dead. Who told you I died anyway?" 

Izou feels like he's intruding in something he shouldn't see. The blond's face does some crazy looking expression, before settling in a disdainful one.

"_Father_ did," the words was said with such loathing Izou wondered if it has something to do with how Ace didn't call Oyaji 'Pops' until a few weeks ago.

"And you believed him?" Ace asks incredulously, eyes wide with disbelief.

The blond pushes away from Ace, a bitter look on his face.

"Well, I'm sorry for being gullible at ten after a session with whips," he snaps, "next time I'll try to be more reasonable and not be delirious with pain or anything."

He crosses his arms, an unimpressed look in his face. Then he sighs and sits down with his legs stretched out. He didn't look at Ace as he continues.

"Besides, you never came back to the terminal again. No one told me otherwise, and ghost of the past started haunting me at every step I take."

Ace winces as the blond shrugs, a painful looking smile on his lips. 

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. I should've at least tried. I should've listened to Lu. I should've—I'm sorry, Bo. I'm sorry I never came for you," he says quietly, voice cracking slightly. He lowers his head, slumping slightly. He was still mumbling things, something about uselessness and disappointment.

"Don't talk about my best friend like that," the blond scowls, "he's the bestest friend one could've asked for and the greatest brother you can ever have!"

Ace looks up and laughs, shaking his head disbelievingly. The blond's grin turns into something genuine, blue eyes swimming with adoration. 

"You're such a sap, Bo. And bestest isn't a word."

"It is now. And I'm not the one with your name in my arm."

Silence settles between them, their eyes watching each other carefully. 'Bo' grins lightly, eyes becoming soft and grateful.

"I'm glad you didn't come, though. I'd rather die a thousand deaths than watch you do the same."

"I'd rather that you didn't go through that at all," Ace admits quietly, walking towards the other hesitantly.

"We don't always get what we want. But good things happen sometimes, and that's enough reason to hold on, yeah?"

Ace plops down beside him, leaning on the other's shoulder. The blond plops down before he did, though, and he falls. Ace burst out giggling—a honest to God giggle—and 'Bo' cackles.

Sooner rather than later, their laughter tapers off. The two curls around each other, and their eyes falls close. Tension seem to seep out of their bodies as they practically sink against each other.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"I'm... Not sure," Haruta starts carefully, eyes not leaving the two youngest being in the ship, "but from what I understand they have a history. A history that makes each other trust whoever the other trusts, no questions asked. History that makes each other comfortable enough to chat about torturous memories and forget about everyone else. History that makes each other privy to their personal lives, a history that makes them closer than most people, a history that we don't know. Not yet."

Izou hums. 

"What do we do, then? Ask Ace when he wakes up? Ask this 'Bo' whom we don't even know? Who's he anyway? What's he even doing in that ship?"

Haruta gives him a sharp look, a disapproving frown on his lips.

"I'm not done yet. Sabo, or Bo, as Ace called him, is a noble from the ship—"

"A noble from a slave ship, Haruta? Why the fuck—" Namur bristles, and Haruta huffs.

"Let me finish! Honestly, do you want to know what happened or not?"

Namur settles down with a scowl of his own, but keeps his mouth shut. Haruta nods with satisfaction, and Izou coughs impatiently. He raises an eyebrow at the Intel Division Commander.

"As I was saying," he says dourly, "blond is a noble. He's thrown into the cell after he set fire into some kingdom."

Gasps echoes through the ship, and Haruta nods grimly.

"Yeah. Its revenge stuff. Turns out Sabo was tortured by his father and then was told that Ace and Luffy—remember him?_ Good_—died in the 'Grey Terminal' fire, which in all actuality we don't know much about aside from that it was constructed by the kingdom. Ace never did anything to prove that otherwise, so Sabo burned the whole kingdom aside from the children, the workers, and the slaves. He seems to believe that the previous fire survivors won't eat them alive. 

"But I digress. The two of them seems to know this Terminal well enough to refer to themselves as Scums of Terminal, with Ace saying some sort of oath I won't bother repeating."

"Commander?" A voice calls out from the back, and everyone parts to reveal Luke. He's from East Blue, a man in his 40's with burn scars all over his body, but he never talks about it. 

Haruta tilts his head questioningly.

"Does the oath goes something like this? 'Born as a scum, raised as a scum and will die as a scum, too, cause a Scum of The Terminal is a Scum where ever he is. I lived and thrived in a place where its kill or be killed. No food is safe unless its in your stomach and humans are monsters as much as beasts.' Or something close to it?"

Haruta blinks.

"That's... Almost word for word of it, yeah."

The man nods.

"Then I might be able to bring some light into it. As you know, I'm from East Blue originally. I traveled inside it for at least ten years. But one of the most remarkable story in it, a few steps below Roger's death and Monkey D. Garp, is the story of the Grey Terminal Fire. According to the rumors, the nobles decided to burn this trash heap named Grey Terminal, with all the people who lives in it. A few days later, a Celestial Dragon came and made the Goa Kingdom the cleanest kingdom of East Blue.

"But thats not the craziest part of this story. From what I've been told by the patrons in one of my visits there, the Terminal used to fear this two boys. At first, I thought they were just kidding. Horror stories and stuff. But this kind of stories always have some sort of truth in them, and they're really interesting. You see, there was this kid called Ace, who no one actually knows aside from that he's from the forest. Now that forest is a whole other can of worms, full of beasts as big as ones from Grand Line and mountain bandits."

Everyone is quiet aside from their breathing. As one, they turn to look at Ace, who snuggled closer to the noble.

"Anyway, this Ace comes down from the forest to go inside bars and beat up everyone in it. He asks something about the Pirate King, and if the answer is unsatisfactory, he causes chaos. A year or two later, he's joined by a blond noble thief who's making a name for himself. This unholy agreement made the terminal people fear for their lives, especially since they eat whatever the trash heap gives and if this two joined forces they will be eating dust.

"Except not really cause the two hunt their food in the forest no one dared to enter and only took gold and money from the heap. Something about being pirates and shit. Now, fast forward five years later, they're joined by another kid. They beat up Bluejam, a 'pirate' that stopped sailing the seas years ago. It went like that for whole three months. Then Bluejam made a deal with the noble kid's father, and he was taken to the kingdom kicking and screaming.

"Later, he warned the occupants about the fire. The Revs were included in some way, I don't know how, but after the 'Great Grey Terminal Fire' the other two was only seen at the edges of the forest and Terminal, never going near the walls. They're still horror stories, warnings for the newbies in the heap. Especially because they started causing more fights and chaos without the noble despite never going to the town itself.

"The bartender has expressed regret about it, saying something about the Terror Children of the Terminal are terrors and are like unwanted little shits you eventually became fond of."

Luke shrugs, giving a wry grin. Haruta hums thoughtfully, staring at the now snoring teens. Izou wonders what he's thinking now, and if it'll be anything dangerous. 

Oyaji laughs, loud and clear, and Izou knows they'll be keeping the noble now.

_Come what may_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey mah dudes. Sorry about the short chap, but the original one got deleted after I accidentally destroyed my old phone, so. Sorry 'bout that. Also, if your reading my other story the same thing happened to it and I'm still looking for inspiration to struck me one more time. 
> 
> I love all of you and thank you so, so much. 
> 
> Also warning, there's a panic attack in the last part, so be careful. It's a bit dissapointing though, and isn't quite what I wanted but I can't recapture the original so-
> 
> Anyway, you go read the chap now. Sorry for rambling. XD

Marco stares at the second youngest Commander, lips pulled into a frown as he process the sudden influx of information. He tries to fit it into the things he'd already known about Ace, and scowls harder. He's missing a few more very relevant pieces, because there's so many holes in Ace's story it's comparable to a fucking swiss cheese. 

Then he pushes all of it away because the crew needs order and it's honestly a fucking miracle that the Grand Line isn't raining hellfire all over them. 

With a shudder at the thought and a glance upwards to check that it's not about to rain fire balls — or meatballs, god forbid — _again_, he claps his hands. 

"Alright, you piece of shits," he begins, "get moving! Namur, recheck our course, set sail to our nearest island—" he pauses, trying to calculate which one is it before adding, "I think it's Fuku-something. The one with clothes. The rest of you, go back to your jobs. 

"If any of you aren't in your positions by the time that storm in the port side comes I have it in good authority that the toilets needs cleaning!"

Amusement settles in his heart as his brothers scrambles to get into their positions, Thatch chuckling as one of them does a complicated looking move to avoid the sleeping kids on the ground. 

Then he bumps Haruta's shoulders, tilting his head towards the Search Room. The younger man grins, all teeth and dangerous, before dashing towards it. The redhead has a mystery to solve, a question to answer, and Marco isn't gonna be the one to say no to his baby brother. 

He turns to look at the only other commander left aside from the chef. 

Izou smirks at him, pointedly looking at the way the two boys curls further into each other's embrace before waggling his eyebrows. Marco—the very, very mature First Division Commander, the feared Phoenix, second-in-command of Whitebeard himself—childishly stuck his tongue out. 

The crossdresser throws his head back and laughs brightly, and Marco knew he hates his brother.

He _does_. 

So he ignores the shooter and focuses to what Thatch is saying instead. The grating laughter didn't stop, even after he heard the black-haired man leave. 

***

Thatch watches curiously as Ace snores, wary and afraid and all kinds of doubtful. But the two boys looks so _peaceful_, in a way that Ace rarely is. Even when asleep, the young logia is restless and moving and Thatch never saw him this..._ relaxed_. 

He looks up to Oyaji, eyes inquiring even as he quietly walks towards the two boys. Oyaji hums and shrugs, and he knows that there's a good chance that they'll be keeping the blond noble. 

(<del>He ignores the cheering voice in his head, and the one that's cooing too. He also tries to ignore the little voice pointing out that he was given a chance, too, so why can't the other be given one?</del>) 

(<del>He ignores the pang of jealousy, of wariness and doubts and resentfulness, because why did Ace kept a secret from him?</del>) 

(<del>How many secrets is he really keeping?</del>) 

"Perhaps it'll be better if they woke up somewhere comfortable. And maybe with food already made— Ace fell asleep so fast that he's definitely gonna be hungry when he wakes up," he huffs as he contemplates how to pick one of them up, "anyone want to help me?"

Marco snorts, and Thatch feels him moving more than sees. The older man pats his back, leaned down and picked them up with one swift move. He feels one of his eye twitch as he straightens.

The bastard is _showing off_, the asshole, and Thatch scowls at the smirking blonde man. He gives the other the bird, before turning around and stomping to the kitchen. 

He, of course, is not sulking or pouting _at all_, and anyone that says so is obviously lying. He's gonna show that show off that his cooking is better suited in courting and maybe, just maybe, he can finally convince the other to enter the kitchen. 

His eyes met Izou, and he nods while the other smirks. One day soon, Marco will admit defeat and admit that they are right, and then they will finally gonna be able to lock the two fire fruit users together in the kitchen. 

He will_ not_ lose this bet. His entire monthly budget is relying in this. 

***

Sabo woke up warm and soft and pliant. There's a heavy, but unrestrictive, warmth placed around his waist and hair tickling his nose. He's never felt so relaxed-

"_Fuck!_"

He sats up, pushing away whatever —or _whoever_, as the case may be— was beside him. Dread settles heavily in his guts as his lungs seem to shrink into him, because what if, what if, _what if_? 

He tries to chase away the cobwebs of sleep, but another more familiar, more terrifying haze takes away his recollection, and he hunches into himself. What happened? What's wrong? Why does it feel so wrong to be so relaxed? Who is he with? Where was he? 

A vague, smelly room that he recognizes as a ship's prison drifts into his mind. Oh. Oh! He _was_ in a slave ship. But slave ships don't have soft beds and oh god,_ what if_? 

The image of soft bed and restrictive chains and pain flashes in his mind and he gasps, eyes slamming open to meet the bluest eyes he'd ever seen in his life— and he had looked into a mirror once upon a time. 

"Breathe in," a soft, commanding voice orders, and Sabo automatically inhales and hold his breath, feeling his hands trembling despite the way it's tightly curled around soft blankets. 

"Breathe out," the voice orders again, and he follows, the air leaving his lungs but his eyes remaining entranced on the view before him. 

Sabo follows the voice's orders until his limbs stop trembling and his body stopped feeling numb, until he doesn't feel like he's drowning in everything all at once. 

"Alright. It's alright," the man says slowly as he steps back, not breaking eye contact. Sabo grins a bit shakily, the memories from — yesterday? This morning? Last night? Who fucking knows, certainly not him — before slams into him like a sea train. 

He licks his lips then turns, seeing as Ace lights up at the sight of him. His smile turns more steady, a hand reaching out to_ touch_, to _feel_, to assure himself that _yes_, this is_ real_, this is_ true_, that it's not some hallucination he's seeing. 

He can't find the words to explain the feeling when his brother reaches out to meet his hand—

Then he's being pulled into a hug, arms settling around his shoulders as if it's meant to be there and he hugs back just as tightly, just as crushing, just the right kind of forceful and almost painful and he's never been as _comfortable _as he buries his head in the space between his brother's neck and the shoulder blades and _cried_. 

Ace is sobbing too, quiet and small and _real_, torso bent awkwardly, and the two of them are sure to have wet spots on their shirts and pain in their backs but they're together finally, _finally_, and heaven knows Sabo had never been so _happy_. 

So he cried and cried and cried, listening as Ace sobbed almost words back everytime he let out a noise that vaguely resembles sentences he knows he's supposed to be saying. 

It was messy, and disgusting, and awkward but it was also real and warm and everything he'd ever dreamed of, with only Luffy missing. But seeing the two of them together will probably be worse, and he tells this to Ace, and suddenly their both laughing and crying and nothing felt as good as this since he was locked up. 

Eventually, their tears tapered of, and he smiled the sappiest smile he can at his brother, who smiled just as sappily back. A cough breaks their eye contact with each other, and they turn to look at the man who helped Sabo. 

His fingers twitches, but he_ refuses_ to be ashamed of finally feeling safe enough to cry, so he stared at the man. The man stared back at them, and an awkward silence settles heavily in the room. 

He's still clutching Ace when the tension broke when the door slammed open.


End file.
